The Cage
by Takianna
Summary: This piece was somewhat inspired by events in GI Jane. Sometimes breaking makes you stronger.


**The Cage**

He had been in the cage for almost two nights now judging from the color of the clouds in the sky. The rain on Kamino, which fell all time, drove into him and caused large welts to spring up on his skin. Rex only had to survive this punishment for a few more days. Just a few more days and they would finally give him the rank of Captain, the rank that Rex deserved. Then he would be able to wear those four golden hashes on his helmet, testament to all the he had survived during his training.

If there was one thing he was, it was persistent. Clones were always being put to the test. There wasn't a time that they weren't tested to make sure the training they received was satisfactory. and now was no different. Rex had been in the cage on Kamino, exposed to the elements for two days and it didn't seem that it would ever end and that the Kaminoans wanted to make sure he was a fit specimen of the genetic material they had harvested.

They always worried about production values and what the "final product" turned out like. Rex hated to be the final product, although it was a constant reality.

Rex remembered the look on the Kaminoan's face as her gray thin fingers locked the cage. They hated to think that their prized production material could die in the elements, but they also had to test them in a way that they would be tested in the field. The cage did things to the body and the mind that would simulate what could happen if Rex were put to the test when being interrogated.

Not that he held any notions that the Separatists would take the time to interrogate a clone, but it would help to build character. It was character that a captain would need to be a leader in the field, if he made it long enough to even get to the field.

Rex heard screaming from one of the other cages. He couldn't see who it was, but the voice sounded familiar. All clones' voices sounded familiar because they were his. So he was faced with the fact that he would sound that way in a few days and that someone else would be wondering just what had made a person go so mad. Rex wasn't sure that he wanted to find out what made a person break in that way, but he knew that he would get the chance shortly.

To pass the time, Rex had started to count all the drops of rain that collected on the bars. It was hard to keep track of it because rain seemed to come from every side on Kamino.

He would also wait to see the waveriders as they came out of the vast ocean and flew gracefully back to wherever they came from. Rex was pretty sure they came at the same times everyday, but he couldn't be sure. He had been stripped of everything that would give him any idea of the time. The only thing he had was the shorts he was wearing and they had long become soaked through. It was getting rather uncomfortable in the rain and standing in a very small box. Rex felt his legs might give out at any time.

He looked to his right and there he saw another clone bent down and huddling against the rain. Everyone was reduced to the same thing out here. You either survived or you cracked. Rex hoped that he wouldn't crack. That he wouldn't cry out for whatever god he thought would save him from the torment that he was sure to endure. This was where you faced your demons, if they didn't get you first.

"Hey," Rex called out to the clone next to him as he huddled down against the rain. "Get up. Don't show them that you are weak. That is what they are looking for from us. Show them that you are a true Mandalorian and face your fears."

The clone looked up at him, eyes red and skin as pelted by the rain as Rex's was. There really was nothing they could do, but encourage each other to survive. Encourage each other to live through the torment that seemed to rage on. They were their own worst enemies now. There was no one in the cage with them but their mind and some times that was the worst of all things.

"I can't," the fellow clone said struggling to stand on his own two feet. His hands gripped the bars to the cage as though it was the only thing that was keeping him from totally loosing himself and his footing. "It's not worth it."

"It's just a trial," Rex called to him. "It's no different than anything else we've done. Just think of it as a live fire drill or the first time you water jumped. It won't kill you, just like those things didn't kill you. They made you stronger. They made you a better soldier and this will make you a better leader."

"You haven't been out here as long as I have," the other clone rasped at him, pain and frustration raging in his eyes. Rex could see that he was breaking. "It's too much. They want us all to break."

"They don't want anything but for us to prove that we are the finest product they have ever produced."

"I don't want to give them the chance to show me off as the best product they have. I want to get out of here. I am a human being."

Rex shook his head. There was a way to get out of this. You could "tap out" as most clones called it, but they also talked about what a coward you were when you did it. Rex didn't want to do that because it only showed weakness and that he was not willing to show. Rex would stand strong against whatever the Kaminoans sent his way. It was the only way to prove that he was worth of those hash marks on his helmet and to lead men into battle. He was going to be the best of the best, even if it killed him.

And it damn well might.

"You think you're such a good soldier," the other clone rasped in a demented voice. "But you aren't. You are the same as me. This is you and you can't do anything to stop it. In two days, you will be begging to get out of here and you won't be able to look yourself in the eyes again."

Rex was jarred by the comment. Would he be able to look himself in the eyes again if he was weak and unable to pass this test? He doubted it. Honor was what he would live on now. It would be the only thing that made him able to survive.

The sound of a bell ringing was the only thing that brought him from his thoughts. It was the clone next to him, signing the final line on a decree that he was sure that his body had written days ago. He was getting out.

Rex watched as two Kaminoans walked elegantly across the rain polished platform towards the cage. They opened the door and the clone fell out towards them, their slim gray arms catching him before his face hit the duracret.

"Do you like what you see clone?" one Kaminoan purred to him as a sickly smile crossed it's face. Rex knew they were baiting him. Asking him if he was willing to continue on with the mission, but Rex knew he would see it through to the end. He was CC-7567 and he was bred to be a captain even if this drove him mad.


End file.
